Library / Other Books

Date of review: June 2021
Book author: William Bernstein
Вook published: 2021

The Delusions of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups by William Bernstein (2021)

The author has undertaken a lot of research and put together plenty of historical facts into this book. As someone who has not written a single book, I have no position to criticise this book.

If I had to summarise the message of the book, I would say

My point, though, is that A, it takes a long time to get the key points and B. a few excellent alternatives exist.

In particular, I would recommend one of the oldest non-fiction books by Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written in 1841. Books by Kenneth Galbraith and Edward Chancellor are also very good to read.

Perhaps another reason I didn't find the book worth reading was because of very useful podcasts that I listened to with the author, William Bernstein, earlier this year. The ideas he conveyed there within an hour in a casual dialogue were very interesting and worth listening to it.

The book is just a little too long and has a few details which I am not sure are necessary to grasp the ideas. It may also be that I am just a slow reader.

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